Broom forming and compressing machine



Aug. 18. 1925.

ljJ. HOLLENSBE ET AL BROOM FORMING AND COMPRESSING MACHINE 4 Sb ssh'eet 2 Filed Feb. 25. 1924 emrc, J? .6762! i. J. HOLLENSBE ET AL BROOM FORMING AND COMPRESSING MACHINE I Filed Feb. 25. 192 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 gmmm Aug. 18, 1925 I. J. HOLLENSBE ET AL BRQOM FORMING AND COMPRESSING MACHINE Filed Feb. 25, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 gin neuter,

Patented Aug, 18, @250 IRA J; HOLLENSBE AND EARL SHELLEY, 01* GBIEEN$BURG, IND ANA.

BROOM FORMING AND CQMPRESSING MACHINE,

Application filed Febru ry 2 1.924;. SeriatNo. 695,037.

To. all whom 1 it may concern Be it known that we, IRA J. HoLLnNsnn and EARL F. SHELLEY, citizens of the United States,,residing at Greensburg, in the county ofQDeeatur. andState of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom Forming and Compressing Machines, ofiwhich the following isaspecification.

This-invention relates to improvements in abroom. formingand die mechanism, adapted for use in conjunction with a suitable press or compressor (preferably of a horizontal construction).

Anobject ofJthe invention is to provide means for rapidly receiving,compressing andreducing the size of a pie-assembled retained bundle of-broom material with the re tainingmeans thereon into a substantially flatbroom brush for subsequently receiving abroom head or clamp in the finishing operation of manufacturing a broom.

Another; object of the invention resides in providing aipair of cooperating dies for forming abundle of broom 2 material having a retaining means for producing a substantially fiat broom brush, by reducing the cross sectionalarea of. the broom bundle and the retaining means and shaping the same so that a broom clamp and handle may be applied thereto inthis finishing operation of manufacturing a broom.

A further object of, the invention is to provide a pair of cooperating die members adaptedto receive the ring retained end of a bundle of brooinmaterial and the retaining ring,,having means for effecting a co-' operation of. said die members for shaping andQforming the said end of the bundle of material into a broom brush of reduced sectional area adapted to form uniformly sized butt ends of'finished broom brushes adapted for receiving uniform sizes of broom clamps.

An additional object of the invention resides in providing a cooperating die mechanismv having strong buttress walls in line with the ring channels formed. in each of saiddie members for uniformly limiting the end flow of the binding ring and edges of thebundle inthe compressing and forming operation;

Still another object of the invention resides in-providing means in connection with theicooperating die mechanism adapted to cooperate'with theibnndle retaining ring; in;

suring a uniform fitting of theend ofthe bundle of-broom material in the die mechanism.

Still another obj QCtiOf the inventionis to provide a mechanicalmeans operated by ja foot pedalfor-placing; said binding-ring within the ring channels locatediin parallel relationin the opposite face surfaces of the die-members, and in proper spaced-relation to the butt end of the said broom bundle, the double purpose of which mechanical ring placing means is l to secure a maximum speed andito prevent accident. to the operator,who would otherwise be compelledto use his hands and fingers in so placinggand locating the said ring.

An additional object in the invention, and amost important oneis in providingadie mechanism adaptedftoreceive and form, as aforesaid, a; retained broom. bundle composed of broom corn or any, other, kind of broom material, or a combination of two or more kinds of material, such as bamboo, rattan, bass, bassine, aztec-fibre, etc., etc.

The invention further comprehends other objects and improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of parts which are particularly described in the fol lowing detailed description and in the claims, directed to a preferred form of the invention, it being understood, however, that variations may be made in the construction and operation of the several parts with out departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described and claimed.

lnthe drawings, forming a part.- ofthis application,

Figure 1 is a plan View ofthe assembled broom forming machine showing a binding ring positioned between? the dies preparatory to the forming operation.

Figure 2 is aside elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1, showing a bundle of formed broom material ready for removal from tlre machine.

Figure 3 is a plan view ofthecooperatr ing dies in a position ready. to be moved into cooperating relation forcompressing 'a bundle of-broomlmaterial.

Figure his a longitudinal sectional-view taken a on the 7 line 4+4 of Figure 3.,

Figure 5 is, an end view of the stationary die member,

Figure 6, is an end. View. of the; face:- of the movable; die members;

forming gure 7 is a detail view shewmg the means for operating the ring positioning member, and the guiding and retaining means therefor secured to the movable die member.

Figure 8 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view similar to Figure 1, in which the movable die member is shown in the position it assumes in compressing a broom bundle into a uniform size.

Figure 9 is a detail perspective view of the ring positioning means carried by the stationary die.

Figure 10 is a detail horizontal section through the stationary die showing the manner in which the ring positioning member is mounted in said die.

1 indicates the base of the machine, formed of substantially heavy reinforced material for providing a firm and solid support for the working parts. 2 indicates the bed of the machine removably mounted on the base 1, formed with an abutment 3, a slide mounting 4, bearing blocks 5, and reinforcing with stress reducing sections 6 extending under the bed 2 and positioning the bed above the base 1, said section serving to connect the bed with said base and also extending around the abutment 3 for reducing the stress applied thereto in the operation of the machine. A crank shaft 7 is mounted in the bearing blocks 5 and retained therein by cooperating bearing block sections 5, the crank shaft being formed in the central portion between the bearing blocks 5 with a crank 7 in connection with which is mounted the connection block 8 for operating the slide block 9 mounted for reciprocating movement on the slidemounting 1 and retained thereon by the removable slide mounting section 4i. One end of the crank shaft is provided with a substantially large spur gear wheel 10, intermeshing with a pinion 11 mounted on one end of a driven shaft 12, having suitable hearings in the bed 2 of the machine and provided at the other end with a belt pulley 13 for receiving a belt l-t from a suitable source of power, the belt passing over a guide pulley 15 mounted in the rear of the driven shaft 12 and having a bearing on the bed 2. The gear 10 and the pinion 11 are provided with a suitable casing member 16 forming aguard for preventing injury to the operator. Suitable clutch operating means is shown at 17 for controlling the power from the pulley 13 to the crank shaft, so that the operation of the crank shaft and the slide block may be stopped at any time independent of the operation of the pulley 13 and the driven shaft 12.

An abutment block 18 is removably mounted on the abutment 3 and provides a mounting for the stationary die member 19 while the movable die member 20 is mounted on the slide block 9 by the removable plate 21 secured thereto.

1,5a9,7ee

The stationary die member 19 is provided with an end wall 22, which seats against and is secured to the abutment block 18 by a bolt 23 extended through slotted end portions of increased section in said end wall as indicated at 2 1, so that a relative adjustment of the stationary die member may be effected on the abutment block, in order to properly position said die member in aligned and interfitting relation with the movable die member 20. A bottom wall 25 extends laterally from one side of the plate 19 and at the bottom edge thereofland is integral with the end walls 26 which are of increased section relative to the bottom wall and formed integral therewith for reducing stress and buttressing the end walls for purposes which will presently be described. The inner walls of the ends and bottom and the plate 19 merge in curved surfaces as indicated at 27 and determine the contour of the end of the broom bundle to form a finished brush of uniform character leaving the dies. A ring receiving groove is provided in the end walls and the plate 22 as indicated at 28 for receiving and retaining the binding ring of the broom bundles during the operation of the dies thereon and being also adapted for cooperation in holding and guiding the ring during the shaping of the broom bundle and the ring itself. The end wall 26 above the center of the ring groove 28 has the inner sides thereof inclined upwardly and outwardly relative to each other as shown in Figure 5, while in the plate portion 22 of the stationary die formed in the central portion thereof and in the portion presented to the broom bundle is an arcuate recess 29 extending from the ring groove 28 upwardly through the upper edge of the plate, the 0011* tour of this arcuate recess being shown by the sectional view in Figure 10. A slidable ring positioning member 30 is mounted in the arcuate recess 29 and has its outer face conforming to the contour of the plate 22, the lower end thereof being provided with a ring engaging lip adapted to engage the upper portion of a ring when a broom bundle is positioned in the die and insure its accurate positioning in the groove through the down ward sliding movement thereof in plate 22, which is effected by a pair of rods 32 slidably mountedin bores in the end plate 22 and connected at one end above said plate with the head 33 and the ring positioning member, while the lower ends of these rods are adjustably secured to a cross head 3i adjustably mounted on an operating rod which extends downwa dly through the hollow frame of the machine to a foot pedal 36 to which it is pivotally connected, carried by the base member 1. Gperation of the foot pedal will therefore operate to more the ring positioning member 30 downwardly in its areuate recess in the plate 22, so that the ring ofa broom bundle will be engaged and accurately positioned within the ring groove 28;; while a coil spring 37- having suitable connections in the basemember 1 isadapted to return the foot pedal and the ringjpositioningmember after the compres sion of a bun'dle iscompleted, to a raisedpo'- sition in the door member es -indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4, in' position to be subsequently operated 'by the foot pedal for positioning the ring-of a new bundle to be placed inthe'die. A- ill-shaped guard menr ber 38 ispo'sitioned over the ring positioning member 30 and the head 33 thereof and en- .tefnds- -above the plate 22 as clearly shown in the drawing, to prevent injury to an operator working; at the machine, and also pr'0- viding a stop for limiting the upward -movement-ofthe ringjpositioning member. As'et screw 39 mounted in the central, portion of the head 33 ofsaid ring positionin member is adapted for adjustmenttherein fa-nd forengagement with the guard 38 for limiting and adjustingthe-li-mitof the upward move ment of the ring-positioning member.

The movable die 20 is )rovided withan exterior contour on the bottom portion corresponding to the interior contour of the side walls 26and the bottom wall 25 of the stationary die member, the a lower end of saidmovable die being curved at the corner portions as indicatedat-4-O and the bottom portion between said curved corners fitting the bottom walls 25 of the stationary die, so thatthe lower endv portion of the movable die member corresponds in shape substantiallywith that of a section through a finished broom bundle while above the curved corner portion 40, shoulders 41 extend outwardly and ride in the ring groove 98 in the endwall 96'o-f the stationary die member and merge into the upwardly and outwardly tapering end wall d2, corresponding to the inside faces of the end walls 26 of the stationary diemember above thering groove, while the upper ends of the movable die member terminate substantially above the upper ends of the plate 22 of the stationary die member. The active face of the movable die member is curved outwardly along the bottom edge and throughout the curved corner portion 40 as may be clearly seen in liligure t and indicated at- 4:3 to provide a contour in the active'face of this movable die member for cooperation with the curved corner portion and end wall portion lof the stationary diemember above described adjacent the face of-theplate22, so that when the broom bundle is com pressed between these dies ina position as shown in Figure=8, they will definitely determine the shape of the finished broom brush so that each brush compressed between saiddies"willhave a uniform size and shape, Theactive face of'the movable die member 20is provided at the upper endof the curved corner portion i 40 with a ring groove td corresponding to the ring groove 28 in the stationary die member andadapt ed tob'e positioned for: cooperation there with in receiving; and'retaining the binding ring; of a broom bundle, the central portion of the movable die member being provided above the ring groove 44: with a vertically extending arcuate recess slidably receiving a ring positioningmember 455 having a ring engagingrlip l6 adapted to cooperate with the ring groove and for engaging the upper P01411011" of a rlng for positioning-it in said groove. The ring positioningmember i5 is mounted on the slide link l? of U-shapcd form, having; the shorter leg secured to the ring positioning member while the longer leg? thereof slidably extends-"through a bore in the movable die member QIO and chuck stem 49 and below said member for pivotal connection with air-operating rod 48 con-- nectedto the'foot'lcver 36 at-the same point as theo'pe rating lever 35 for thering positioning-member ofthe stationary die. The bottomwall25 ofthe stationarydie is slotted asindicated at 25 for receiving the lower projecting end of the slide linlrd? when the dies are moved into cooperating relation as-shownin Figure 8'. A plate 59 mounted in a recessin the upperend of'th'e movable die member is prov'ided with a U- shaped opening 51 for receiving the slide linlr 47 having the flattened portions 52 cooperating with the slot opening 51, said flattened portion extending longitudinally of the slide l.l11l,-f-O]C limiting the movement of the slide link through the movable die member and therefore determining the operation oftho ringpositioning member car ried thereby.

In Figure 2 a broom bundle is shown in compressed-form, in which it forms the finished broom brush asindicated at 54, while hebindingring'for said brush whichis retained by the ring grooves 28 and 44 of the stationary and movable die -1nembers respectively is indicated at 55, the broom. bundle beingheld in a vertical position by abracket member 56 secured to the movable dierr'iember as indicated at 57, said bracket retaining the broom bundle in an upright position between the die members duringthe compression of the lower end thereof for preventing the bundle from accidentally tilting during the compressing action and producing an improper shape in the finished broom brush.

From' the foregoing specification, it is evident that these forming dies when closed form a cul-de-sac mold ofthe exact size, shape and contour-requirediin abro-om brush of the metal top variety, and that-broom cornunder normal conditions lSyHiOfQQ or less' resilientg but when" assembled in abroom gar bundle within a binding ring and subjected to heavy pressure within a cul-de-sac mold as aforesaid, it becomes semi-plastic and retains the form of said mold.

But all this is quite different with such coarse, stilt broom material as bamboo, rattan, etc., which when released from such a mold as described, is inclined to resume its original position and therefore to secure a permanent form for such material, the said broom bundle of such material must be positioned within the binding ring to approximately the form required in the broom brush, prior to the molding operation.

Such a preliminary forming and position ing means is provided in what may be termed a bamboo bowl 58, which is mounted on the compressor, immediately in front of the compressor operator and provided with a concaved bottom presenting a semi-spherical interior bottom with outwardly flared inner walls extending up 'ardly from said concaved bottom, with an in re diameter at approximately two inches above said bottom, identical with the outside diameter of said binding ring and adapted to readily receive, with a slight thrust, the butt end of a broom bundle, causing said butt end to assume the semi-spherical contour of the said bamboo bowl cavity, the outwardly fiared inside walls of which at its identical diame ter to the outside diameter of said ring, retain the said ring positioning it at the proper distance from the said butt end, automatically, and accurately positioning and forming the said broom material, in properly spaced relation with said ring making the said bundle ready for the subsequent molding operation in said dies. A bound broom bundle is positioned with the butt end between the plate 22 of the stationary die member and the active face of the movable die member 20, the ring 55 of the bundle ex tending down between the upper ends of both of the dies and below the lip of the ring positioning members of each die when in their raised positions. The central portion of the butt end of the broom bundle will contact with the bottom wall 25 of the stationary die, while the outer edge of the bun dle will extend upwardly from or will be pushed upwardly by the curved bottom walls until the operation of the foot pedal 36 is effected for sliding the ring positioning member of the movable and stationary dies downwardly for pulling the ring 55 binding the bundle down into the grooves and 44 of the stationary and movable die members respectively. This operation takes place before any movement of the movable die and which serves to position the ends of all of the material in the broom bundle in contact with the contour of the stationary and movable die members. After the operation of the foot pedal 86, the power controlling means 17 is operated for releasing the compressor clutch for moving the movable die into cooperating relation with the stationary die 19, for compressing the broom bundle and particularly the butt end thereof to shape and mold it, together with the binding ring into a fiat broom brush of a predetermined size and contour for receiving a broom clamp in the finishing operation of making a broom. In this compression of the bundle of broom material, the ends of the material at the butt end of the bundle are given a proper shape through the contour of the die member as above described while the material is distributed between the dies for equal compression at all points, and the ring 55 is changed in its shape by the cooperation of the die members so as to form an elongated loop having rounded ends, the metal at the end portion of the ring being prevented from flowing beyond a predeten mined limit by the buttress end walls 26 of the stationary die member, so that in being confined within a predetermined size of ring groove formed by the cooperation of the die members, a predetermined and uniform size of broom brush will be formed, the binding ring in its finished form effectively holding the butt end of the broom brush in its compressed, reduced size, and molded cross sectional area for receiving a broom clamp used in finishing the broom.

The construction of the bed 2 of the machine for operation in a horizontal plane provides a convenient form of structure and mounting for the die members so that the bundles may be conveniently applied and removed from the machine in a vertical position which makes it handy for an operator to handle the bundles being placed in and removed from the machine, and also to observe the operation of the die members in order that it may be ascertained if the parts are properly adjusted, and compress the bundles into uniform size.

From the. foregoing description, it should be apparent that a comparatively simple and eificient means has been provided having a pair of cooperating die members for com pressing a bundle therebetween to form and shape the same into a finished broom brush.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a stationary die member having bottom and end projecting walls, a movable die member adapted for sliding movement within said bottom and end walls, and means for producing a sliding movement of the movable die member relative to the stationary die member, said die members being adapted to receive the butt end of ring retained broom bundles, and the slid ing movement thereof, forming and compressing said bundles and retaining rings for producing uniform sized broom brushes, the end Walls of said stationary die member being formed of increased and stress reducing sections for preventing end flow of the retaining ring being compressed therein.

2. In combination a pair of interfitting shaping dies, means for producing a relative movement between the dies for successively receiving, forming and compressing retained parcels of broom material with the retaining means, and means carried by said interfitting dies movable for positioning the retaining means of the broom bundle in a predetermined position.

3. In combination, interfitting shaping dies having brush engaging faces of predetermined shape, means for producing a rela: tive movement between the dies for successively receiving, forming, and compressing retained bundles of broom material with the retaining means, and means carried by said interlitting dies movable for positioning the retaining means on the broom bundle in a. predetermined position, said last mentioned means also-forcing the broom material into contact with the dies, to form a broom brush, conforming to the shape of the brush engaging faces.

4-. In combination, a stationary die member having projecting bottom and end walls having a predetermined interior contour, a movable die member having a contour to fit the contour of the bottom and end projecting walls of the stationary die member for sliding movement therein, said movable die member having an active face for cooperation with the face of the stationary die member to predetermine the shape of the butt end of the broom brush, said die members being formed with cooperating ring receiving grooves, ring positioning means movable in said die members, and means for independently operating said ring positioning means, said die member successively receiving, forming, and compressing ring retained bundles of broom material having the ring adjacent the butt end of the bundle, and

said butt end of convex form, said ring positioning means being adapted to position the ring in the cooperating receiving grooves of the die members and effecting a movement of the broom material retained thereby to fit the contour of the cooperating portions of the die members.

5. Forming means for broom brushes comprising a pair of slidably interfitting die members, said die members being formed to receive the butt end of a ring retained broom bundle, means for moving and positioning the ring in a predetermined position on said bundle said means being movably mounted on said die members and adapted to position the bundle with the ends of the straws thereof in contact with the forming surfaces of the dies, and means for forcing the die members together to compress and shape the bundle of broom material and the retaining ring to form a broom brush.

6. Forming means for broom brushes, comprising a pair of slidably interfitting die members having cooperating ring receiving grooves formed therein, ring positioning means slidably mounted in said die members and movable substantially at right angles to said ring receiving grooves, and means for operating said ring positioning means and for producing a cooperation and sliding movement of the die members toward each other, for compressing the broom bundle, said ring positioning members being adapted to move the retaining ring on the broom bundle into the ring receiving grooves of the die members, thereby effecting the contact of the butt ends of the broom material, with the die members for forming a broom brush having the butt end of predetermined contour.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

IRA J. HOLLENSBE. EARL F. SHELLEY. 

